Liquor license controversy aside, Wine Time opened its doors Monday morning.

Located next to his Serendipity Western American Gift Gallery, Roger Huckfeldt hopes the new shop at 2010 Main Street in downtown Torrington offers residents a place in town to explore a vast selection of wines.

A self-admitted fan of tasting different varieties of wines, Huckfeldt said the idea for a wine shop partially stemmed from discussions he had with other downtown business owners. In those conversations, Huckfeldt aimed to find out what sorts of products or services people leave Torrington to buy elsewhere.

“One of the reasons they (people) go out of town is that they can get a broader selection of wines,” he said.

Other businesses in the Torrington area might carry and serve wines, but Huckfeldt said he aims for his shop to introduce something different into the community.

“This is non-smoking, it’s not a bar, it’s not a tavern, it’s not a saloon, it’s more of a wine shop,” he said.

While the shop doesn’t include any seating or serving, Huckfeldt said he hopes Wine Time will host tasting events about once or twice a month once the businesses gets into the swing of things.

The shop houses both domestic and important wine from places as local as Table Mountain Vineyards in Huntley and as foreign as New Zealand.

“Right now we have 150 different types of wine in here today,” he said of his shop’s inventory, adding that he hopes to carry 200 varieties by the beginning of the new year.

In addition to the bottles of wine that line the stores racks, Wine Time also sells accessories like wine savers, bottle openers and glasses. The shop might also carry gift baskets in the future, Huckfeldt said.

Additionally, Huckfeldt said several people have approached him inquiring about the possibility of carrying specialty liquors and beers in the future.



For the complete article see the 11-25-2009 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 11-25-2009 paper.

Share on Facebook